Tracks

Broken Social Scene may own the world’s biggest welcome mat (along with revolving door) for their band members, but Broken Social Scene are consistently one of the class acts within the indie rock landscape. Their way of toying around with ideas as they move through an album, or even a set list, are one of the main attractions to Broken Social Scene’s art-rock style, as they make it work so effortlessly and elegantly. On May 4th, Broken Social Scene will release their newest album Forgiveness Rock Record, one that surely rival the band’s impressive discography, judging from their single, “World Sick,” provided below.

All in the Golden Afternoon is the brainchild of husband and wife duo Carlos Jackson and Rachel Staggs. Their first release, 2008’s self-titled EP, is an intimate collection of six songs; characterized by dreamy, psychedelic tendencies and vibrant instrumentation, it has since become one of my favourite EPs.

“In the Box” isn’t quite as upbeat as the material from All in the Golden Afternoon, but the reverb soaked piece maintains the breezy atmosphere that the duo does so well. And you gotta love the vocal interplay between Rachel and Carlos. “In the Box” will be featured on All in the Golden Afternoon’s full length album, Magic Lighthouse on the Infinite Sea, due for release some time in 2010. You can hear more at their Myspace page.

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Alright guys, I really have no idea about this one. Is it good? Is it bad? There are times when I think both. Gaggle is a British “choir” of women (trust me, it’s not what you’re thinking), “I Hear Flies” a catchy single that is either perfect for pregaming or an earworm hook comparable to the spice girls if they were angry drunk bitches (hence the title). Listen to those cockney accents hypnotically shouting over dubstep beats… mmmmmmmm………

Daníel Bjaranson is the Icelandic artist behind Icelandic music. The guy who conducted the choir in Sigur Ros’ “Ara Batur”? Bjarnason. The guy who conducts the Iceland Symphony Orchestra? Bjarnason. Although overshadowed by Nico Muhly on the Bedroom Community record label, Bjarnason is a leading musical figure in the circles that know him. In February of 2010, Bjarnason released a record entitled Processions, featuring three of his compositions. The first composition, Bow to String, is a three movement suite for multi-tracked cello, and its opening movement is a fiery rage of uneven time signatures, rapid melodies, and driving percussion from the bow of the cello. Check out Processions immediately.

To let everybody know, I was originally going to post something a bit more relevant for my first ‘track of the day’ feature, being a new Flying Lotus song from Cosmogramma (which is great, btw, even if its leak is in pretty shitty transcode; am definitely buying for the occasion when it’s released on April 20th). But I’m ultimately ruled by Lala, which is some fucking music service kind of thing that I have to add our Track of the Day to for I don’t know what reason, and Lala definitely ain’t reppin Flylo. Lala was also hard as hell to figure out, and that’s for damn sure.

But, alas, I’m forced to find some other song to quickly write about, and I ultimately landed on a Neil Young song, who I’ve been incessantly listening to and basically rediscovering recently, to great rewards. And in this process of rediscovery, I’ve decided that “Cowgirl in the Sand” is easily Young’s definitive and best song, a ten-minute bruiser that highlights why Young’s music is so great. His vocals, equally rough and effeminate, twist around lyrics that concern a lost love: the effect is something like listening to a drunkard bitch about his ex for ten minutes straight, but not annoying. The tale Young spins is interrupted with sonic booms of guitar feedback and hair-raising solos: a Young specialty, first perfected on this song after he stumbled through Buffalo Springsteen and a bland, unremarkable debut. You could say he peaked early, but…

Active Child is a songwriter from Los Angeles who creates haunting contrasts on his recent cassette release Sunrooms. Like many of his songs, “Wilderness” and “She Was a Vision” are sparse and moody, populated by brittle echoing drums patterns, lonely synth swells, and a kind of hipster castrati vocals popularized by Bon Iver. However, underneath these overly melancholic concepts are humming bass tones and shimmering echo pedals that undo Active Child’s calculated frigidity. These songs are seemingly about loneliness and isolation but are built from a tender warmth captured beautifully by the chorus of “Wilderness”…

It’s so cold but you know we belong here
to the sky and fire to keep us warm here

“Wilderness”

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“She Was a Vision”

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Anacrusis were a technical thrash band that started in the late eighties, but they only made it to the mid-ninties before breaking up. There are many reasons for their eventual demise – fans would say that they were too ahead of their time, but the band would tell you that there was much more to it than that (read their bio). Anyway, it seems to be the trend for old bands to get back together and Anacrusis have gone that route. In late 2009 they announced that their original line-up at reformed and that they were re-recording their first two albums. Listed below are four tracks – the first is the original and the second is the re-recording. The album is set to be released some time in April… until then, enjoy.

Stop Me (1990)

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Stop Me (2010)

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Present Tense (1988)

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